First Gardening of 2011 - Favorite Clematis Picture

42° this morning at 3 AM! What a change.

Well, I lost another post yesterday! I previewed it, published it and find this morning nada!

I will just cover everything here on Sunday morning.

Saturday it was 24° at 4 AM.

The only productive thing I did was completely dismantle our shower doors and clean them. The only thing dirty was the bottom of the doors and the bottom of the track.
It required DH's help with taking them down and putting them back up. I used Oxy-clean, then comet, then white vinegar and a tooth bruch and a scrub brush. I didn't get everything pristine but they sure are better than they were. Our plumber, electrician, carpenter/contractor didn't use the grout that is mold/mildew resistant and so I have black under the clear caulking that I can't get rid of. It makes me want to just pull the shower out and do a new one......but I won't. I have also considered just removing the doors, filling in holes and hanging a shower curtain. I absolutely hate shower doors.

I vow to do this at least once a month now.

Chickens blessed us with 7 eggs! A real record for this winter.

Sunday, February 13

Temperature 42° at 4 AM

I milked this morning....not fully because, once again, she got very antsy, I took 1.25 gallons.

After lunch, I finally did the very first gardening of the year!

I planted under the lights on the back porch the following:

Early Jersey Wakefield Cabbage, Late Flat Dutch cabbage, Premium Crop broccoli,
Asian Red Lettuce

Ornamentals: Johnny Jump-ups, red snaps and a mix; Vinca Cora deep lavender (they backordered my white ones)

I cover the trays with clear plastic and place under the lights in my grow-light plant stand on the back porch.
I gave a small fortune for it way back maybe 10-15 years ago, but it was cheaper than a greenhouse and it requires no extra heat. It holds 12 regular size growing flats which just about takes care of my plant needs.
Each fixture holds four 48-inch long bulbs. The back porch is the coolest room in the house. If I need bottom heat for germination, I just place the flat on top of a light fixture until they come up and then under the lights. Each light fixture is movable so I can lower it right to the top of the flat or up pretty high as the plants grow.

I still would like a simple hoop house for transplants to harden them off or growing on.

I will start warm season things like tomatoes and peppers in about a month or so. I like tomato plants just at 6 weeks before moving into the garden.

Miracle Grow Potting Soil: I don't like it at all....especially for seed starting. I had a small amount of my good finer mix so I filled the flats with MG first and the topped it with the finer mix before planting the seeds. I think MG would be fine for potting soil for plants in baskets or transplants but it has way too many big pieces, sticks, etc. for fine seed.

I have a bag of jiffy pots that I lost last year....found way too late....and can't remember where I put the darned things....another search is on. I use them for things that don't like to be transplanted.

I have a big job waiting for me next....clean up my potting area in the barn....and the milk room area where I process the milk and store things....all are seriously out of control.

I won't get much done today......we are going in to the In-laws for DH's belated birthday lunch.

Did I mention I found another stash of seeds in the barn! I won't have to buy cucumber seeds for the rest of my life.

Here is the list I found: Spaghetti squash, Kandy Korn sweet corn, cucs Cross Country Hybrid, Wisconsin Pickling, Boston Pickling, 3 packages of various sunflower seeds (never been opened), 3 packs of zinnias , a few Haricot Vert beans, a pack of saved Queen of Siam basil seeds, and a pack of Black Beauty Zuchini.

Random Pictures



This is my favorite clematis. It is slightly smaller flowered but is disease free and blooms over a much longer period. Huldine is just a perfect clematis. It is a a type 3, which means you just cut it down to about 2 feet each spring.